So what is wrong with the Twins anyway? Well, that question we can easily answer. Here’s how the Twins rank in all of the majors in three key categories.
Runs Scored, 104 (27th)
ERA, 6.13 (30th)
Defensive Efficiency, .644 (30th)
What does that mean? The Twins aren’t really doing a good job of scoring runs. They aren’t doing a good job at preventing runs either. And when a ball gets put in play, the defense isn’t doing a very good job at turning it into an out. The last two are particularly irksome, because, well, they’re suppose to be the Twins’ bread and butter. And yet nearly every Twins pitcher is suffering from shell shock, and the Twins infield has been about as effective at stopping ground balls as a sieve is for boiling water. That last comment should be particularly irking to Twins fans, since that’s Gardenhire and Ryan’s reasoning for keeping Jason Bartlett in Rochester and Michael Cuddyer on the bench. The biggest problem for the Twins’ though really hasn’t been the two players starting instead of them though. It’s been the Gold Glover the Twins brought in to shore up the infield, Mr. Luis Castillo himself.
How much has Castillo’s nagging injuries hurt him in the field? It’s hard to say, but he looks a step or two slower, his zone rating is sitting at .701 (for comparison, Punto posted an .877 mark last year) and according to Baseball Prospectus Castillo is currently five runs worse than the average second baseman. By the same regards, Batista is at a .710 Zone Rating (compared to a “horrific” .780 from Michael Cuddyer last year) and Castro’s .780 Zone Rating (compared to .865 from Jason Bartlett last year, Castro came in at .813 last season as well). That’s not good infield defense, no matter how Bert Blyleven, Gord Wittmeyer, Dan Gladden or anyone tries to spin it.
Johan Santana and Scott Baker seem to be pitching alright so far this year. But they’re also extreme flyball pitchers. The worst starting pitcher on the Twins’ so far this year, Carlos Silva, just so happens to be the staff’s most extreme sinkerballer. Lohse has also trended towards being a groundball pitcher the last couple of years, and the new cut fastball Radke developed this offseason to combat lefties should make him more groundball prone in theory as well. To take it even further, when players have put the ball in play against Francisco Liriano, it’s usually been on the ground. And Liriano has been fairly hit prone, with a WHIP of 1.53.
At the same time, to defend the Twins infielders, Silva and Radke have both given up 10 homeruns and only Tampa Bay has surrendered more doubles than the Twins so far this year. That indicates that the opposition is hitting them harder. And that could be the root of the Twins’ fielding problems.
Is the Twins fielding woes causing the team’s pitching woes? Or is it vice versa? That’s a story for part two, I suppose.
• From my labia…
“Hey jewscott between Kemp, Cameron, Neshek, Boof, and the lefty-tastics Miller & Barrett which ones actually have the stuff to not suck ass with the Twins?”
Any one of them could come up in the right situation and not “suck ass.” Any one of them could come and “suck ass” too. Boof makes some sense if you believe my rant above because like Santana and Baker, he’s an extreme flyball pitcher. It’s also hard to argue that a guy who’s struck out 30 batters in 15 innings so far like Neshek has so far will come up and “suck ass” too. Those are probably the two best bets on the list, though long term Neshek is more of a gimmick than a pitcher with his almost submarine delivery. Cameron and Kemp are the worst bets on the list.
In other news, now that I have labia and suck ass on my blog, I can’t wait for the new wave of Googlers to hit my site.
9 comments:
I apologize for putting "labia" and "suck ass" on your blog. I didn't know what level of maturity we were supposed to use. Though if it makes you feel better, I swear I've heard "labia" and "suck ass" used in this college library I'm currently sitting in.
Also I can't believe you're bashing Tony Batista. His defense, sweet and candy hands, and calming influence have been huge for the Twins.
Don't worry about it. Maturity is so overrated.
My understanding is that Ryan plans on rebuilding the team around Santana and Castillo. It appears that Ryan doesn't understand defense metrics any more than he understand offense metrics. He also doesn't understand the age and health continuum thing.
My understanding is that Ryan plans on rebuilding the team around Santana and Castillo.
What gave you that idea?
It appears that Ryan doesn't understand defense metrics any more than he understand offense metrics.
Maybe. But even the most dyed in the wool seamhead admits there is no perfect defensive metric right now. So is he completely wrong for not trusting them?
Also, while Ryan may be a bit slow. He always seems to get things eventually.
It appears that Ryan doesn't understand defense metrics any more than he understand offense metrics.
Maybe. But even the most dyed in the wool seamhead admits there is no perfect defensive metric right now. So is he completely wrong for not trusting them?
Also, while Ryan may be a bit slow. He always seems to get things eventually.
Yeah Ryan might get it right, eventually. But really, does it look like he's trying to win when he has Castro and Batista as starters on a team under his watch?
But really, does it look like he's trying to win when he has Castro and Batista as starters on a team under his watch?
If Bartlett is still in Rochester come June 1st, you may be right.
*insert dankind like comment about being right ALL the time*
I haven't got to see many games, but the few I have watching Batista "play" third base without any range has been entertaining. As well as listening to Dick & Bert brag up Fidel and his average-at-best range like he's the reincarnated version of Ozzie Smith, blech. And listening to the people a few feet away making out and panting is really distracting from my studying for finals, shut up you bastards.
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